The present invention relates to a three-dimensional, non-contact scanning apparatus and method. The apparatus and method of the present invention are particularly useful for scanning and digitizing a subject's foot, and is therefore described below with respect to this application.
In the footwear industry there is a demand for equipment that can scan a subject's foot in three dimensions in order to input such information into a computer. Once the information is in the computer, the information can be advantageously utilized, for example: (1) to select the appropriate shoe size for a customer in a shoe store; (2) to produce orthopedic shoes designed exactly for a subject's foot; (3) to design a shoe and its components according to the three-dimensional configuration of a last; (4) to inspect a last for quality control; and/or (5) to provide statistical information of a large number of people in order to aid in designing better shoes.
One technique for the three-dimensional digitizing of information of an object, such as a subject's foot, is by moving a contact probe around the subject's foot. This method, however, is extremely slow for many of the applications described above.